View Full Version : Knots
TheViking
29-08-2004, 00:32
Hi...
Which knots do you think is the most important when out & about?? You can all mention one, but only one per person! :wink: :-)
I'll cheat a little and say a roundturn w. 2 half hitches... :D :biggthump
I really do like the Evenk knot that Ray brought back from his travels...
Squidders
29-08-2004, 00:46
backed up reverse figure 8 for me.
Hi...
Which knots do you think is the most important when out & about?? You can all mention one, but only one per person! :wink: :-)
I'll cheat a little and say a roundturn w. 2 half hitches... :D :biggthump
A backed-up Clove Hitch
Seagull
qweeg500
29-08-2004, 09:24
My old uncle used to say "You need to have a hitch (for anchoring), a knot (stopper or loop), and a bend (for joining two ropes) in your repertoire. And you can pretty much do all this with a bowline". In my opinion the bowline is the most versatile of all.
It's better though to use a knot that's designed for whatever the task is.
Matt
http://www.northnet.org/ropeworks/jpg/AbowV.gif
:wave:
The clinched half bloodknot for me, I tie it more than anything else.
Realgar
tenbears10
29-08-2004, 10:28
I was going to say bowline as well but Qweeg and Simon beat me to it so
Reef knot, bet you use it without even thinking. :wink:
Simon did you do that animation yourself? It's great. :biggthump
Bill
nope . ..... it was from a site that has been buried in my favourites with an animated turks head knot, incase I ever want to try one on a knife handle
http://www.northnet.org/ropeworks/text/arch.html
TheViking
29-08-2004, 10:35
Hi...
I think everybody should try to make knots behind their own back. It's very good exercise. :wink: I tried this with a few and it's quite difficult with some knots, but the square (reef) knot is fairly easy. :D :biggthump
tenbears10
29-08-2004, 10:41
nope . ..... it was from a site that has been buried in my favourites with an animated turks head knot, incase I ever want to try one on a knife handle
http://www.northnet.org/ropeworks/text/arch.html
Looks a good site. I've been using turks heads on my leather lanyards recently and they work and look pretty good (even though I say so myself :wink: )
Bill
Hi...
I think everybody should try to make knots behind their own back. It's very good exercise. :wink: I tried this with a few and it's quite difficult with some knots, but the square (reef) knot is fairly easy. :D :biggthump
More than that you should also practice in the dark, swapping hands and even under water.
My favorite knot - the constrictor knot. Not because I use it a lot but because of the beauty of it.
I,d like to see anyone tying a Turks Head, behind their back, underwater, at night!
Seagull
I,d like to see anyone tying a Turks Head, behind their back, underwater, at night!
Seagull
:rolmao:
The results could be interesting!!!!
mr dazzler
29-08-2004, 11:16
I'd agree re:The Bowline knot. Non slipping, easy to tie. Easy to untie. When we learnt it years ago in the scouts we had to do it fast (competition) Also I think (correct me if I'm wrong) it's really quite efficient (the cord will retain about 80% of its strength. :-)
TheViking
29-08-2004, 11:45
More than that you should also practice in the dark, swapping hands and even under water.
Ahh.... good one there! :D Didn't thought of that. :wink:
Squidders
29-08-2004, 11:58
My favorite knot - the constrictor knot. Not because I use it a lot but because of the beauty of it.
I used to be employed by EMI as a prototype wirer and when lacing large number of cables, we used to use the constrictor knot because you can daisy chain them easily. top knot!
mojofilter
30-08-2004, 02:15
another vote for the bowline
Seeing as everyone has taken my first choice of bowline it has to be the timber hitch.
JFW
steven andrews
30-08-2004, 10:25
Round turn and two half hitches.
MagiKelly
30-08-2004, 10:59
Reading "Song of the Paddle" at the moment (great book but I will post about it when finished). In the book Bill says that he can never remember any knots. He tends to make them up as he goes along. He also says when it is important a knot does not come out, he ties LOTS of them. When hanging over a waterfall to take some pictures he estimates he had about a hundred knots tied on top of each other but as he points out for all his lack of knowledge of knots he has never been injured due to one coming out.
hmmm, theres so many knots i like/that are usefull, but i'll say the Marlin SPike hitch, just to be different :)
I'd have to go along with the constrictor (or miller's) knot as favourite, but most used would be the half-windsor (for my tie) and the bow (shoelaces).
Keith_Beef
01-09-2004, 13:50
Fisherman's hitch.
This is more or less the same as a round turn and two half hitches, but with the free part going into the round turn, before the half hitches.
http://e-nekton.com/archive/edition6/hitch5.jpg
But this is a close call, since I have about twelve knots that I use frequently, and unfortunately the original post precludes me from mentioning the others...
Keith.
Simon, thanks for the link.
Tom
RovingArcher
02-09-2004, 02:44
The first one I learnt was the truckers hitch (http://www.isu.edu/outdoor/knots.htm).
I like the alpine butterfly :o):
There are several knots that I find indispensable, but if it had to be only one, then it's the figure of eight, backed up to make a loop. Despite it's popularity among people here, no climber today would use a bowline knot because they DO slip under heavy load and are simply not as safe as a figure eight.
Cheers
Excellent point - the bowline does slip, no matter what many books on the subject say. Maybe with natural fibre ropes the scope for slip was limited, but with synthetics, it's far from ideal.